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Hi All, I'm not new to programming but am completely new to DBC + Enhancement pack which I just bought. I've so far managed to do import a few created spaceships thanks to DOGA L3 and can make them fly around. I want to write an Elite/Frontier/X2 type space sim but have so many questions regarding the following I dont know where to begin. I noticed a number of tuts on the first problem but they all seem to be for DBPro not DBC(E). Can anyone point me in the direction of tuts/code that might help with these?

1) Collision detection
2) Creating planets / Stations
3) Creating atmosphere effect of entering a planet
4) Advice on which graphics software packages work best for Space sims written in DPC

Thanks for any help you may have on these. By the way I am more than happy to fast track my way and buy premade planet/stations/animations (but need to be high quality) packages for example than reinvent the wheel so to speak, so if this is an option - would be great to hear about it.

Cheers.

Ok I'm ok with collisions - I got some good advice that using math is better than the ingame collision functions. However a few additional problems have arisen. Using DOGA L3, I imported a number of ships and put them at set locations. Ok so far so good. Then I import a small blob which i intended to be a plasma blast but upon importing it, it shrunk the size of the 4 ships I had and furthermore changed their angle. Repositioning the camera seemed to make everything disappear!! Can any one help with this and perhaps more generally with laser bullets (e.g. is it best to create them as objects and then do a collision detection routine with ships?)

And just one last question, how can i load an object without it appearing on screen immediately I load it. For instance I want to load a ship, rescale it to something sensible, colour it in and then move it to where it is supposed to appear. What currently happens, is the ship appears in the middle, half a sec later it shrinks, then moves to the location I specify.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

Help anyone?

for this when i try and make a space sim i make a 2nd sphere thats only a tiny bit bigger than the main sphere you use for the planet. (say if the planets size is 40 make the sphere 42-45) and texture the 2nd sphere with clouds and what not. ^^

Also if you want the planet to have a "glow", texture a pain with a circle the same colour as you want the glow to be and the background black, (here is where i may be wrong...) then with the set object command i think its something like "set object obj, 0, 1, 1". With obj been your object number but i rely can't remember at the minute. you may want to ask someone elce how to stop the black pixles been drawn.

but once you have the plain textured and positioned at your planet scale it so you have enough of the "glow" visable then make it point to the camera at all times useing:

point object obj,camera position x(),camera position y(), camera position z()

and whala hope this has been of some if any help to you

Thanks I get the idea and will give it a whirl. Cheers!